KickAss: The Tale of The Liberator
by Skullhead881
Summary: Benjamin Thatcher. That's my name. But to the public, I'm known as "The Liberator!" This is the story of my travels through super heroism as I take on the worst of the worst super villains New York has seen, all to avenge my friends who died in combat.
1. Chapter One: Combustion

The Events of this story take place after the events of Kick-Ass, the movie version. A possible alternative fan-fiction taking place after the Comic version might be released later, but for now, this will have to do. I am simply writing this for fun, and for no personal gain other than the hopes of improving my writing abilities. This Fan-Fiction is rated Mature due to the Excessive profanity, Violence, Nudity/Sexual Acts and Drug Use. Read At Your Own Risk

I ran as fast as my lungs would allow me to run. The blood dripping over my left eye caused impartial blindness, making me weaker and weaker with each frantic, dashing step I took. The sounds of a riot kept getting louder and louder behind me as I rounded another corner, heading down an alleyway towards a brightly lit street.

Whoa...excuse me...I've gotten ahead of myself. That doesn't happen until much later, so I should probably stop there for now. You're probably wondering "What the hell is going on?!?" I'll tell you, in due time. But first, how about an introduction?

My name is Benjamin. Benjamin Thatcher, for what it's worth. I was one of the many people who watched as "Kick-Ass"-a local kid that went from the most viewed podcast of Youtube into the first 'real' superhero- went about the streets at night, helping to stop a few baddies and ultimately take down a crime syndicate that was brought into the public eye after the events at D'Amico tower. Some of the best stuff I had ever heard of.

After that, more and more people dressed as these 'superheroes' showed up. Some of them, like Captain Steel and Madame Missile, we kind of cool. Others, however, when met with some of the super villains that also appeared, such as Doctor Gravity and Siren, met an untimely end. Slightly ironically, the death of Beat-Ass, one of the WORST Kick-Ass rip-offs in the history of rip-offs, became the number one watched video on Youtube, beating the record set by Kick-Ass debut by nearly three hours!

Other than a slight obsession with superhero comics and video games, I'm your average kid. I go to school and Brentwood High, graduating later this year. have a beautiful girlfriend, Trisha, who I feel like might be the one person who could make my life whole for the rest of what life I might have. My parents both work nights, so I never really get to see them. To fill my time while Mom and Dad work, I hang out with my two best friends, Kevin and David, as well as take part in a Tae Kwon Doe class. Like I said...normal.

So, tell me why I have the sudden urge to make something of my life like never before...I've had this...urge to get out the and make myself known for who I am, and for the talents I have. I'm pretty good with electronics, making a working radio out of a TV remote, an old Game Boy Color and a few extra mechanical part thingies when I was seven. Maybe something with that would do?

I often thought about that during Mr. Klines third hour English class, which is where I think I'll start this little story of mine. Like I said already, My name is Benjamin Thatcher, but nowadays, people just call me The Liberator!

**KICK-ASS: THE STORY OF THE LIBERATOR**

"Mr. Thatcher!"

I jolted up as Mr. Klines yelled at me for what I would be told later as 'the third time.' I yawned openly, looking t the scrawny man in front of me who looked like he belonged with a pack of Pigmies. "Yeah?"

"Would you be so kind as to tell us the answer to the question?"

"And what question might that be?"

He grunted loudly, like he always likes to do. He's a very hard man to satisfy-just ask the Misses. "What is the theme of Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven?"

I sighed deeply, looking at him with a look like I hadn't actually read the stinking poem. But, to be fair, I hadn't. "Something about a bird?"

The class laughed at my answer as Mr. Klines walked over to my desk. "If I catch you asleep in my class once more, Mr. Thatcher, you'd be wishing you had a bird to comfort you!"

The bell rang at that exact moment-weird how that sort of thing can happen, huh?-and the entire class got up and left. I could feel the hawk-like eyes of Mr. Klines watching me as I left, eating away at the soul inside of me that desperately wanted to tell him off.

"What was that even supposed to mean?" David stated to me as we walked towards my locker, just down the hallway. He was, of course, referring to the bird comment.

"How the heck should I know?" I told him, starting to enter my combination. "He must be obsessed with birds or something."

"Whatever the case man, listen to this!" He pulled one of the ear buds he had in his ear-something you will never find him without-and handed it to me. I took the thing and listened in, hearing a news report from the radio the came with his MP3.

"...Another tragedy for the superhero community. For those of you just joining the fray, another of the superheroes, which were, excuse the pun, kick started by Kick-Ass, died today in a major battle with another new villain. Local hero and icon Combustion was slain today in a brutal battle near Times Square, where a still unidentified masked villain took him out in front of thousands of people.

"In a starting upset, however, this is one villain who seems to be only targeting other masked marvels. A recent uplink to the Radio 95.5 station tells us so. And here is that same uplink.'

A sort of raspy voice was heard through the ear bud, which was very different from that of Stick-Em-Up Sammy, the radio DJ that was WAY to into cowboys and westerns. The playback, of course, was edited due to it being on public radio.

"I want to send a message out to every super 'hero' out there. There are people who do the protecting and serving for a living. They get paid to do their jobs, and you ass$&#s are ruining is for every single f*&ing one of them. Now, unless you want to meet the same fate as you 'friend' Combustion, I suggest you all throw your little tights in the garbage can where they belong, and let those who do their jobs do them. This is your first warning. Do NOT make me reach three, or every single f*&ing man, woman and child in this city will face my wrath. Do not tempt fate, New York. Fate has a funny way of making people die!'

"The clip cuts off at that point, but a transcript was attached with it, revealing a few...extra words from this mysterious villain. It reads 'This is only the beginning. If superheroes don't learn their lesson, then like a dog, must be punished. You will meet the same fate, hero or heroin, and I'll enjoy every last second of it.' Whoever this man is, and whether or not his true identity, or even a name, will be revealed, is still a mystery. But rest assured, this is a strong hit to the superhero community, and New York in general. A funeral service for Combustion will be held Thursday, in honor of his heroic deeds for the seven months he was 'on duty.' this is Stick-Em-Up Sammy, telling you to have a rip roaring good day!"

"Jesus Christ," I stated, taking the ear bud out and handing it back to David. He had a small smile on his face, which kind of worried me.

"This is awesome!" He stated, twirling the ear bud in the air. "It's just like in a comic book!"

As I grabbed my math book for my next class and closed the locker, we continued our conversation down the hall. "What do you mean?"

"Well, think about it. Usually, when the villain is either tired of the hero, or finds out who he is, he gives them a choice. Either stop this madness or he'll stop it for them. This is just on a much larger scale!"

"I guess you have a point," I stated, stopping outside of room 205, the math room where Mrs. Andrew taught Calculas fourth hour. "But, let's talk more over lunch, okay? I'll see you then, man!"

"Yeah, see ya!" He called as he began running his slightly chubby ass down the hallway towards room 237. The bell rang a short time after I had sat down, and we all heard a triumphant "YES!" from down the hall. David had made it to class on time...for once.

= = = = = Elsewhere, Location Unknown = = = = =

"Are you sure he is ready for what is to come?" His voice was fluid and calm, looking at security camera footage of Benjamin.

"As ready as anyone else we have selected for this program. Besides, Combustion requested this one personally, for whatever reason that may be. Send him the message."

"Right away, sir," He clicked a few keys on his key board, pressing enter with a little more force than needed when all was said and done. "Finished. Should arrive shortly."

"Good."

= = = = = Brentwood High School, Room 205 = = = = =

Math. Math was boring...as usual. Numbers, letters, symbols and random little squiggles; all just so you can get a simple little number or numbers at the end of it all, simply the do something meaningless in the long run. I mean, I get that you have to know some math for whatever career you might be going into, but do you really need to know the square root of an isosceles triangle equal to that of another angle of a 45-45-90 triangle if you're going to be a, oh...I don't know...Priest, let's say?

Yeah...didn't think so.

Thankfully, Mrs. Andrews always gives us bunch of work time t work, and I already had the homework done, so I pulled out my trusty iTouch. Loads of games and internet access on this thing, so those long plane rides seem just that much shorter. Or classes, lectures, work meetings; whatever you want to use it for that will help you get distracted quickly and quietly.

I pressed the small square on the touch screen that read "Insane Game," and began to play. Simply put, you shoot people. Longly put, you shoot people with a large number of weapons to get points so that you can buy even more weapons and items to get higher points to get more weapons and items to get more money...need I go on?

As I was playing, a small blip in the corner of the screen made me pause the game. I grunted out of frustration, but quickly noticed I had a text message. figured it was either from David or Trisha, so I opened it. It was a weird message, but I read it all the same.

'Benjamin Thatcher You Have Been Chosen.'

'What the fuck?' was all I could think as the bell rang, everyone around me getting up. Gerald, a semi-friend of mine, was looking at me with confusion as I was still sitting there, looking at the message.

"You okay man?" He asked me with his slight Scottish accent.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I stood up, giving him a quirky thumbs up as he walked out the door in front of me, both of us heading for the cafeteria. I tucked away my iTouch, and just sat there with David, who completely forgot our conversation before.

"So, Mr. Train gives me a fucking F on the paper, just because it was two pages short! Can you believe that crap!"

"Yeah," I said, looking down as I twirled my peas on my plate. "I guess."

"What's with you, man?" he asked, taking a huge swig of his chocolate milk.

"I got a weird text is all. Nothing to worry about."

"Well, what did it say?"

I looked around, making sure no one else was listening in. "Benjamin Thatcher You Have Been Chosen."

"That's it? Dude, you're bugging out about some stupid chain mail. That's all."

"Whatever man," I said, shoving a few spoonfuls of peas into my mouth. "You just hate that I get texts and you don't."

"That's not true!" He shouted, throwing a small clump of mashed potatoes at my face. I managed to dodge the slightly lumpy projectile, only to watch as it hit Mr. Klines' suit jacket dead on.

"Having fun, boys?" he asked with an angry sarcastic tone, wiping away the few dribbles of potato that were left on the jacket.

"I suppose so," David said, harking down another one of his garlic bread sticks.

"The principal asked me get you two," He said, picking me up by the collar with a bit too much force. "He said he wanted to talk to you both about something very serious. I hoped he expels the both of you, but that's just me."

"Too bad you'd probably get fired first," David stated, getting one hell of a glare from Klines. He pushed me forward, walking with us as we exited the cafeteria. As the door slowly began to close, I heard a slight uproar in talking, meaning everyone was probably talking about...you guess it, us.

"What could Principal Henry want with us?" I asked David as we walked up to the office door, Mr. Klines opening it for us and letting us in.

"How should I know? As far as I can tell, I've been n my best fucking behavior all day!"

Mr. Klines walked past us, hitting the back of David in the head for the profanity and entered Henry's office. We heard a slight murmur of talking for only a few seconds behind the closed before, then Mr. Klines let us both in. We sat down in the cushy brown leather chairs, looking at our 'beloved' principal.

"You may leave now, Jordan," he said towards Mr. Klines, who had a look of disappointment on his face. He closed the door behind him, Mr. Henry standing up as he did. "You both are friends with Kevin Peters...correct?"

"Yeah," I said along with David. "What's that got to do with anything," I added after the double reply.

"Your friend died today, boys." He said it so bluntly and with probably a little more seriousness than I would have expected.

"What do you mean he died?" David asked, being the one of the two of us who couldn't cope so well. "How? When? WHY?"

"Have you boys listened to the news yet, this morning?," Mr. Henry asked, walking towards the window and looking out.

"Yeah, on radio 95.5," David stated, pointing to his ear buds as I saw, what I could only assume, was a tear crawling down his cheek.

"Then you know about what happened with Combustion, I presume." We both nodded. He turned to face us once more, sitting down in his chair and locking his fingers in front of him, resting his hands on the desk. "As it turns out...Kevin WAS Combustion."

That hit me like a bag of bullets tossed into a fire and all aimed at me. I had been noticing Kevin disappearing during the day every now and then. He'd been sneaking out for whatever reasons, he seemed tired and suspicious. He had come to school once with a knife wound, which I thought he had gotten from being mugged, like he had told us. With my knowledge of nearly every MARVEL comic that has ever been released, you'd think I would have noticed this!

"You have to joking." I stated, sitting there in a state of denial. David had, by this point, lost it, and was crying openly in his chair.

"I'm afraid not, boys. He did, however, have a Last Will and Testament drawn up, which he had sent to me to give to you boys...for whatever reason. I only saw who got something in it, and you two were the only two. Which, is why, no matter how unfortunate it might be, I have called you both here."

He reached for a drawer in his desk, pulling out an envelope, the seal on it already been broken. He handed it to me from across the desk, and I took it with a shaky hand. I tucked it inside of my bag, helping the broken down David up and out of his chair.

"You two are welcome to have the day and tomorrow off if you so wish," Mr. Henry stated as we left his office, David having gotten control over most of his emotions by now. I thanked him as I closed the door, walking with David out of the school building and back to my house. I just couldn't believe this was happening...

= = = = = Location Unknown = = = = =

"Has the message been given?"

"It has, sir" spoke the same fluid voiced man as before. "He just got the document Combustion left for them...the Will that is. They have been giving a two day reprieve from their school."

"Good. That will give us plenty of time to contact him. Prepare a squad of three. I want him to be here tomorrow."

"Understood, sir." He clicked away at the keyboard, entering commands and sequences at a rate of 100 words per minute. A few names flashed on the screen, the man clicking three of them with a the mouse next his right hand. He turned to the supervisor, nodding towards him. A small smile spread across the supervisor's face.

"Excellent."


	2. Chapter Two: The Meeting

"I just...I just can't believe he's gone."

I watched as David set down the controller, which was something rare for even him to do. We were playing Halo 3, our favorite game to play together while online, and had just finished a match of Slayer, winning by a landslide for a change.

"Dude, we have to get over this." I told him, trying to encourage him. For those of you who don't know, our friend, Kevin, was recently revealed to us to be one of the new superheroes in town, named Combustion, a flamethrower wielding hero who stopped baddies with dual, wrist mounted flame throwers and a bunch of incendiary grenades. It was also revealed to us, before we even knew about the identity, that Combustion had been slaughtered by some new, still unidentified villain. That was yesterday.

"It's hard for me, you know?" He took a gulp of his Mountain Dew, tossing the empty can towards the small waste basket across the room. It missed. "He was one of our best friends. We did almost everything with him. It's not that hard to accept that he's gone, but to accept the fact that he was a superhero and never told us!"

"I know, but we have to move on from that. Let's just remember him for who he was, not for who he was behind our backs to try and protect us from getting hurt."

He sniffled slightly, picking the controller back up. "Let's do some Action Sack," he stated, smiling slightly. "In honor of Kevin." Kevin always chose that mode.

"For Kevin, I stated, picking my controller up and starting up the matchmaking process, waiting as the game selected opponents for us. Just as the match was about to start, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Groaning, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, looking to see who was calling. To my surprise, the call was coming from...home?

"Who is it?" David asked, focused more on the TV screen in front of him than me. I knew him too well to think otherwise.

"It's from home...but mom and dad are both at work..." Almost without realizing it, my thumb moved to the answer key on the phone, my hand moving the phone towards the side of my face. "Hello?"

"Benjamin Thatcher! Where the heck are you, young man!" It was my mother.

"Mom, you know I'm at David's for the day. You told me this morning that I could go."

"I told you no such thing, young man! You get your ass straight home, or so help me I will shove one of your fathers pool sticks so far up your ass you will wish that you were a fudgesicle! Is that understood?"

"Alright, alright!" I stated, standing. "I'm on my way." I hung up the phone, looking to David. "Apparently, my parents are home, and pissed at me for some reason. So...I got to go."

"Have fun being a human fudgesicle," I heard David shout at me before I walked out the door. My mother had been talking pretty loudly, so it's no surprise that he heard it. I heard his laughter as I left, making me know that he was going to be fine.

= = = = = Thatcher Home = = = = =

He hung up the phone, smiling to the other two. "He's on his way."

"Nice job, Mimic," spoke the female of the three. She wore a bright red suit with black detailing, a small black mask covering only her eye portion of her face. Her cape hung low behind her as she sat backwards on the dining room chair, resting her head on her arms with were rested up the chair back. Her long black hair flowed behind her. "You're getting better at more than just mimicking movements."

"Doc said I should try voice," He stated, his voice raspy and deep. His eyes were also covered with a small black mask over his eye area, but his costume was all black. He wore the traditional tights and suit look underneath the knee length trench coat, a large, dark green M on the front of the suit. "Also said I should take up ventriloquism."

"Knowing you, that would turn out about as good as when Starlight decided to use those seven flashbangs to take out Psycho in the White House three months back," Spoke the third, who was much older than the other two, easily. He had, like the other two, a small black mask around his eyes, the rest of his costume dark blue color. His arms were crossed in front of him, the gloves on his hands with large metal claws jutting from them.

"Oh yeah," spoke the female, laughing slightly. "She ended up blinding the President and sending him to the hospital for three days! Sad she had to meet that kind of an end against Psycho a few days later."

"Never thought pie could be so deadly," Mimic spoke, a slight look of sorrow on his face. He turned his head away from the others, looking off into space. A silence fell over the three for a brief moment, interrupted by the female.

"So, tell me again what we're going to do?"

"Well Crimson," began the older man, stepping forward. "We're going to 'invite' him to come with us to HQ."

"But do we have to do it like this, X-Factor? He seems like a nice kid..."

"Don't you go to school with him?" Mimic asked, sounding a little accusing.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She snapped, stepping up and pulling out a large knife.

"Settle, Crimson." X stated, stepping between the two teens. "He was simply asking a question. Or at least that had better be all it was." He looked towards the young man with a look of suspicion.

"Of course it was!" Mimic stated, sounding for some reason like George W Bush. Crimson giggled a little and X-Factor smiled slightly.

"Cool it with the voices for now, Mimic," he stated to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You've done much improving over the past few months."

"Well, I've had great instructors."

"We all have," Crimson stated. "Thanks to HQ and Doc."

"Shh," X stated, putting a finger to his lips. He was looking at a small device on the table that made a small ping noise. "The sensor indicates that someone is pulling up. Get to your positions."

= = = = = Benjamin Thatcher = = = = =

I pulled alongside the house, the gravel of our driveway kicking up into the air and touching my exposed legs. I had shorts on today, for the first time in months. It was warm, and I figured 'What the hell?'

Walking up the wooden steps, I couldn't help but notice Mom's car not here. My Dad's was, but that was because they had taken Mom's to go do their "Date Day" thing...Every month, my parents go out the entire day and just party...Makes me sick thinking about it.

I opened the screen door, taking one step in before I felt...wrong. I can't really explain it, but I had this weird feeling, like what Spider-Man has before something bad happens. To avoid copyright issues, let's just call it a 'Benjamin Sense.' I ducked down...

...managing to avoid a book that was flying through the air from my right, slamming into the cabinet door and falling onto a potted plant.

I whirled my head around, but saw no one. I reached into my pocket, looking for a weapon of some sort. I pulled out my keys, reaching for the small, pocket knife I had attached to the key ring. Then I did something I would later think was stupid, especially considering I didn't know if this was a burglar or not...

"Who's there?" I shouted, and, like I said, realized it probably wasn't the best thing I could have done. I waved the knife around in front of me as I walked farther in, not hearing a sound. I rounded the corner into the dining room, seeing three costumed people in there, all seated at the table.

"Nice dodge," stated the female. I recognized them all from the reports on TV. Mimic, Crimson and X-Factor... Why were they here, though?"

"What the fuck do you want?" I shouted, still holding the knife in front of me. I was shaking slightly, though I desperately tried to make myself stop.

"We'll explain to you, Benjamin," X-Factor stated, making me shiver a bit at the fact that he knew my name. "And you can put that away. If we wanted you dead, you wouldn't have made it to the door. Now, please...Have a seat."

I slowly walked forward, retracting the knife and sitting myself down cross from X-Factor. Mimic was seated next to me, Crimson next to X-Factor. I felt really uncomfortable knowing that at any point my life could be taken, but my nerves seemed to tell me that everything was alright. I wasn't really sure if I should trust it, but I guess it works...for now.

"Do you know why you are here?" X-Factor asked, opening a file that was on the table in front of him.

"You called me here. I have no doubt that Mimic is the one who did my mom's voice..."

"You're a quick learned. But that's not what I asked. Do you know WHY you are here?"

I thought for a moment. A few days ago, I was Benjamin Thatcher; a nobody student of Brentwood High school, living at home with two working parents and no siblings. But now, I was Benjamin Thatcher; A still nobody kid from Brentwood, sitting in my dining room with the superheroes, all of which I only knew from the reports on TV and the radio.

"I really can't say I do..."

"Do you have Combustion's Will?" Mimic asked me.

"Yeah," I stated, pulling it out of my pocket. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I take it you haven't read it then?" X-Factor stated, standing and walking around the table to face me. "Read it."

I felt a bit uncomfortable as I opened the envelope, pulling the sheet of paper out. It was written on a simple piece of notebook paper: traditional Kevin fashion. The words were scribbled on the page as if in a frantic hurry, some of them I wasn't even able to make out. But, I pretty much could fill in the blanks as best I could...

_Ben,_

_I know I should have told you guys sooner. I'm Combustion, and by the time this reaches you, It'll probably already be too late. To make a long story short, I've been a part of a secret organization of superheroes for the past several months now, honing my abilities in martial arts, gun and fire control, and a number of other things. I've become an icon in New York, and all that is going to end...very soon._

_A hit has been placed on my head. Not like a mafia hit, because that would be merciful. I'm a superhero, and when a hit gets put on my head, there's only a few people who can do something about it. And the only person I can think of that can so it to me is the one who actually put a hit on me..._

_He never gave me his name, but he did tell me that he was going to kill me...just because I'm a superhero, a sign of peace and protection to one of the busiest and most dangerous cities in the world. He said something about a large gathering to witness the event unfold, so my only guess would be the upcoming Times Square event is gonna take place. I just hope I'm wrong._

_But enough about that. I have an important thing to tell you. Ben, I've been asked to find someone who I know I can trust with this secret. I want that person to be you. I have a rather small storage container full of extra equipment on the south side of town, with extra costumes and everything. It was I'd become a new hero after a while or, what I hoped for more, was to fight alongside you and David._

_But David never would be cut out for this. So I'm looking to you Ben. Let the name of Combustion...or Kevin, die in vain. Avenge the death that is to come to me, and take down this villain before anything bad happens. You're one of the best sparring partners I had in Tae Kwon Doe, and even with my months of extra practice, you could still best me. I can't think of anyone else I'd like to have avenge me._

_Ben, thank you for some of the best years of my life. I'll see you when it's your time, friend._

_Kevin, A.K.A Combustion._

A tear slowly found its way down my cheek. I usually don't cry, but this was....this was just overwhelming to me. I had known Kevin since third grade when he moved here, and for him to trust me with this...wait...

"He wants me to do WHAT?"

"You're gonna become a superhero, you dumbass!" Mimic stated, sounding like Lou Ferrigno for some reason...

= = = = = Some Time Later, In South New York = = = = =

The door swung open with much less effort than I thought it would take. The storage container door looked like it would have weighed at least three to four hundred pounds, but opened like any other door. Must be well kept or something.

Beyond the door was a bunch of long plastic sheets hanging from the ceiling. You know, like the ones they have at factories and labs? Yeah, those. Anyways, we passed through them, making our way down a much larger than I thought corridor...I think we even went down a bit.

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked X-Factor as we kept walking, Mimic taking the lead as he held a torch in front of him. And I don't mean 'Torch' as in flashlight. I mean straight from the middle ages, fire and all 'Torch.'

"We're going to where you need to be."

"And, would you mind telling me where that IS, exactly?"

"HQ," Crimson stated bluntly. She had a bit of...an edge to her voice. I hadn't really noticed that before, or she was just now doing it. I wasn't quite sure.

"HQ for what?"

"We just call it HQ," Mimic stated, leading us to a doorway. We must have been walking for at least ten minutes before we got to this thing.

"You may want to brace yourself for this one," X-Factor stated, turning a large, submarine-style wheel attached to the front of the door. "Combustion took quite a while to adjust when he saw this."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not Kevin."

X-Factor just shrugged a bit and pulled the door aside, and, much to my own surprise, I was taken a bit aback.

All around, white walls donned a massive area, bigger then a warehouse went to house jumbo jets. Numerous people, wearing either suits, lab coats or superhero costumes, walked about, all with their own destination and current objectives. Some sat on tables and chairs, others were goofing around with others, some still were looked just plain bored. In the back corner, a large black box caught my eye, large enough to house nearly thirty people...

"Welcome, Benjamin," A man stated, wearing a long lab coat that reached his knees. He had on a nice blue shirt and regular blue jeans underneath, but his features of his face mad him look much more high class...if that were even possible. He had a goatee-mustache combo, covering the upper, lower and side parts of his lips with the dark blonde hair. His mop top of a head was covered with more of the almost sandy blonde hair, making him look more like a hippie than a scientist. He extended a hand towards me as he continued. "My name is Doctor Morris, but everyone here just calls me Doc. It's a great pleasure to meet you."

I grabbed his hand with my own, expecting to simply shake it. Instead, he pulled me in, spun me around, and pulled out a seven inch blade, putting it straight up next to my throat. I was so scared, I couldn't even speak.

"Rule Number One," He stated, whispering it into my ear like some deranged lunatic. "You must ALWAYS be on your guard. Never trust anyone with even the slightest inclination. Understand?"

I nodded with a panicked nod, and he let me go with a sober laugh. I put a hand to my neck, almost instinctively, to make sure he hadn't actually cut me.

"Don't worry," He stated, putting away his knife. "If we wanted you dead-"

"Already told him that part, Doc," X-Factor cut in. He walked in front of me, making me seem a bit uneasy. "The kid managed to dodge the book you wanted us to throw at him to knock him out. Kid has some serious reflexes. Combustion was right about him."

Doc simply smiled, and looked towards me. "You were right, Mr. Thatcher," He stated, walking within mere inches of me. I, of course having learned my lesson, was ready to fight him off. "You certainly aren't your friend Kevin." He moved his hand forward and placed it on my shoulder, making me flinch with anticipation of something bad happening. "Welcome, Ben. Welcome to HQ, your new home away from home."


	3. Chapter Three: The Beginning of The End

"This is all too much for me, you guys. Really, I don't want to be up here."

Welcome back to the exciting tale of my life, chapter three. Well, for you, it's chapter three, but for me, it was just another day in New York...Only now I was standing in front of X-Factor, holding a makeshift Shoalin Spade (A long staff like weapon with a crescent moon blade on one side and a angled out blade on the other. This one, however, had foam padding on the end) in my hands, ready to fight, for all I knew, to the knockout...or worse, with him.

The best part is this wasn't even the beginning of it. This was simply hour seven of day thirty-five of my 'training.' I already had a split lip, a black eye, cuts and bruises all over my arms, legs, chest and face, as well as blood, mucus and saliva all over me, some of which wasn't actually mine.

"Quite whining and face me. I know you have practice with weapons similar to that one. Combustion explained to us that you were his greatest sparring partner and teacher. Now fight me!" He was, of course, unscratched.

I looked to this man, who had in his hands a makeshift Shoalin Spade as well. He still wore his super suit, for some odd reason, and was in a fighting stance similar to that of Ju Jit Su. Having been a newly elected instructor for my class, I got to fight in competitions against other martial artists, and not just those who practiced Tae Kwon Doe.

"But do I really have to do this in my street clothes?"

"Just face me! You must be ready at all times! Remember Rule Number One!"

"I remember the God Damn rule!" I shouted to him as I began to rush forward, taking the oversized baton and swinging it into the air. I went forward with an upward arc to the left, hoping to try and take him out at the exposed area of his current stance. However, it didn't work. He swung down with his fist, slamming me in the back of the head. I was sent flying forward into a wall, where my vision blanked out and I lost consciousness.

"Combustion wanted this to be our Liberator?" I heard Mimic state with a laugh before I was completely out.

I awoke some time later on a hospital gurney, somehow having been healed fully. I figured I was in a coma for the past few weeks, but Crimson, who was seated at the edge of my bed, told me otherwise.

"You remember that comic book, _Wanted_? When that one guy created that bath substance that would healed broken bones in not weeks, but in hours? Well, a bunch of the scientists here have recreated a substance similar to that, only theirs not only heals at a much faster rate, it also gives you a brain boost for the new few hours. You'll be able to solve any type of math problem up to Calculus level now."

"But I'm in Calculus now..."

"Oh...then just think of yourself as an Asian guy, okay?" She smirked a flirty smirk my way and began to walk away.

"Wait!" I stated with a bit too much force for my liking. She did, however, stop in her tracks and turned to face me. "Why did you wait for me here? Don't you have stuff you have to do?"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" She stood at the edge of my bed once more, only this time she leaned forward. I managed to see her cleavage, and I must say I was impressed. "You're supposed to meet with Doc half an hour after you woke up, So, in about twenty-eight minutes, press that button beside that tray of food and he'll send someone to get you, okay?"

"Yeah..." I looked at the food, and all of it looked great. it was liked a personalized platter straight from Golden Corral. "Sounds great."

I scarfed the food I had in, like, fifteen minutes, giving me another ten or so minutes to wonder around before I was supposed to contact Doc. So, I got up, felt a bit woozy, sat back down for a minute, then got up again. I felt fine, so I put on the robe that was left for me and decided to have a quick look around.

All I saw were five other hospital gurneys and a two doors, one that said 'Bathing Room, and the other was a set of double doors that lead to a hallway. When I tried the door that lead to the hallway, it wouldn't budge, so I tried the Bathing Room.

It was, much to my surprise, not what I expected it to look like. I figured it would be just like in _Wanted_, with the floor having a lot of human sized holes in it. Instead, a large pool was laid out before me, currently occupied by three, rather good looking women.

They all were standing near each other, waist deep in water. Their long hair flopped down behind each of them, wet like drenched skin all over their bodies. Even though their backs were to me, I noticed they all looked similar. It was later I found out that the three of them were actually triplets.

As I snuck past them to try and get a better look, I felt a bit nervous, yet excited. I had never actually seen a girl naked in real life, and internet porn just doesn't cut it for me anymore. I've gotten to second base with Trisha, but I haven't actually seen anything yet.

I managed to sneak behind a large pillar that supported the ceiling. It was nearly right in front of the three, slightly to the left so I was basically out of their way. They all looked so beautiful, I couldn't control the boner growing between my legs. It tried to peek it's way out of the robe, but the fabric stopped that from happening.

Long blonde hair that reached the middle of their backs. Dark blue eyes that matched the deepest oceans on the brightest days. Boobs that had to be at least high C cup, maybe even D's. Then there was something I hadn't noticed before... There was a fourth among them.

Getting a closer look, I saw that it was...Trisha! She stood there with the other three, splashing water about and getting wet herself, her black hair flying about as she did. He breasts were about as big as two grapefruits, and I couldn't control myself. Throwing off the robe, I rushed forward into the water, and noticed something odd begin to happen.

All around, the water began to evaporate. The walls seemed to dissolve away, leaving behind nothing but eternal blackness in it's wake. I watched as the triplets seemed to just pop like balloons, leaving me and Trisha, standing fifty feet apart in a room of eternal blackness.

"Trisha!" I called out to her, but she did not respond to me. She simply stood there, naked with her head hung down in front of her. She was rubbing one arm with the other, shaking her head slightly.

"I'm so sorry, Ben..."

"What are you talking about? Trisha, what do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, Ben." She looked up, and I felt like I had been shot. Her eyes appeared to be gouged out, her nose bent in two directions at two different points. Scars crossed over her face, three in a diagonal fashion. They ran from top left to bottom right, as if Wolverine had slashed the front of her face.

"Trisha!" I ran forward, getting within ten feet of her before I couldn't move anymore. I simply stopped at some point, panting as I reached out for her. She still stood there, staring at me with her empty eyes. I landed bluntly on my knees, still facing her as tears began to cloud my vision. It was then that I noticed something...else.

Standing behind her was a man. I couldn't make out anything special or specific about him, but he was there none the less. He walked forward and placed a hand on Trisha's shoulder, making her wince a bit. He then reach over, grabbed her by the neck, and snapped it.

"TRISHA!" I cried out in rage, charging forward to grab the man. I lunged, flying through the air...

...and flying through a cloud of smoke, that of which somehow re-manifested itself to take the shape of the man once more.

"You can't fight this, Benjamin," spoke the cloud of smoke, seeming to walk towards me. His voice sounded so...familiar. "You will die, just like your bastard friend, Combustion."

It was then that I realized whose voice that was. "You're the guy who killed Kevin!"

"If that was the name of your flamer friend, then yes. I am."

"You son of a bitch! I'll kill you!" 

"No, Benjamin. You won't. Not here. Here, you have no control over what happens. You will face me eventually, Benjamin, but for now, I must depart. As for the little display with Trisha...I wanted you to see what would happen if you came looking for me. I'll do this to your friends...family...even you."

A puzzled look would probably be seen on my face as I looked towards the cloud of smoke. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Wake up, Benjamin."

"What?"

"BEN! WAKE UP!"

In jolted awake, Crimson standing over me. I looked around, and I was in that same hospital room, only now, everything was different. Gurneys were toppled over, glass covered the floor. A fire had started over on the left hand side of the room from where I was, and the Bathing Room doors were blown inwards. I was apparently under a pile of rubble, and Crimson helped me out of it.

"What the hell is going on?" I cried over the sound of the siren to Crimson, who was leading me out of the room.

"It's him! He's found us!"

"What? What are we gonna do?"

"We need to find Doc! He'll know what to do!" I followed her, knowing that something awful might happen. Visions of my supposed dream flooded my vision as hallways became more and more disaster filled, finally reaching our destination; Doc's Office.

Opening the door, we found the inside was completely unharmed, aside from a large barricade of furniture, books and a large painting of the room, which I still think is rather odd.

"Hello?" Crimson called, looking around the room. She walked behind the barricade as I checked around the corner of the plywood wall that had been propped up. I was about to round the corner once more, when Crimson let out a rather painful sounding screech. I rushed over to where she was, behind all the barricade, and looked on in horror at the mangled body laid out before me.

Doc, a man I had come to respect as a mentor, friend and almost a second father, was twisted and mangle on the floor in front of me like I had never thought possible. His left leg was almost wrapped around his head, still attached at the hip line, but only barely. His arms were twisted around and around like a French braid, and a large, almost four foot sword was shoved down his throat, jutting out his ass area.

I was absolutely mortified. Crimson threw up next to me. All I wanted to do at this point was go back to my little dream world, the part before all he weird, melty shit began. In fact, why couldn't I just go back to the way things were before Kevin had to die? Like, months before, so I could somehow find a way to find out who he was and try to convince him that being a superhero was down right...

Then it hit me. I honestly can say that I had no way to finish that sentence without realizing why he did what he did. I had been trying to figure it out since David and I were told the news about his death. And now I knew. He wasn't doing it for himself; no superhero ever does...He was doing it to save lives.

Looking down at my now blood soaked feet, listening to the panic, gun fire and explosions from outside the office doorway, I knew. I knew that I had to do something to help this out. Looking to Crimson, I helped her up from off her knees, looking at her with the deepest look of confidence I could possibly muster.

"We'll get through this," I told her, pulling her in for a hug. "I promise you."

Moments later, we were raiding Doc's private weapons stash, the one he had behind his desk sealed in a large vault. He had told us the codes, in case of such an emergency, and we were taking everything we could handle.

Rifles, shotguns, pistols, swords, knives, brass knuckles and plenty of body armor and ammo filled our hands, holsters and bags within minutes as we suited up. I grabbed a mask from the small bin in the corner, one that easily fit around my head. The rest of my body was covered in kevlar and makeshift armor, all of which had enough padding to protect me from knives and bullets. The mask, dark blue with black trim, fit snuggly over my face, only showing my eyes, now filled with a lust for blood.

I looked once more to Crimson, who still had her super suit on, but was fully loaded and ready to go. She cocked the shotgun in her hands (A 12-guage Remington 1100 Tactical Shotgun, as I recall), then focused her determined gaze on me. We both smiled and nodded, walking to the office door.

"Ready for hell?" I asked, knowing what answer I might get.

"A better question would be is Hell ready for us?" Not quite what I expected, but close enough. We both nodded once more, and I faced the doorway, kicking the door outward. It flew from the hinges and smacked against the wall five feet away from it, falling to the floor soon after.

Me leading (Which I thought was pretty stupid, seeing as I had had about ten hours training tops with a combat shotgun), we walked out, checking our flanks to both the left and right. I motioned for Crimson to follow me to the right, and she did, attaching the silencer to the end of her shotgun and walking right beside me.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect. We were facing X amount of enemies with God knows what kind of weapons and training, all while trying to find anyone who might still be alive and able enough to join us in an assault upon them. What a great fucking day this was turning out to be.

Rounding another corner, I saw four military dressed men turn a different corner ahead of us, all of which seemed unfocused. We managed to avoid their gaze as we jumped back around our corner, pulling out knives. I looked to Crimson, who didn't share the gaze, but slowly began to walk in front of me. What she did next is something I'll never forget.

Walking out into the opening of the hallway, I watched as she fixed her gaze on all four of them. They all readied their weapons, and to my surprise, simply stopped. As I looked at them, all of which seemed fixed on Crimson, I looked towards her...

...and she had her top up, her boobs hanging out in front of her! She was just standing there, knife in one hand and lifting her shirt with the other, flashing herself to these four guys, all of which were hypnotized by her melons! And to be honest, I couldn't blame them. They had to be at least D cups.

"You just gonna stare at them all day or take these bastards out?" She shouted at me, seemingly knowing I was staring too. Shaking it all off, I rushed forward, blasting two of them away with dual Desert Eagles. They fell down after being shot in the head, leg and heart areas, the other two seemingly shaken out of their little trace. They readied themselves once more, but to no avail.

I reached for both the knives tucked away in holsters on the upper portions of my arms, pulling them both out and throwing them. One of them hit the guy on the right square in the jugular, blood spewing out as he fell to the ground, choking on his own blood with each, gurgling breath. His friend got the benefit of the doubt when the knife scrapped across his arm.

He dropped his gun (Strike One) and knelt to the ground (Strike Two), clutching his arm and swearing loudly. He looked at me, standing three feet away from him, and reached for his pistol (Strike Three. He's Out).

I whirled about as he brought his arm up, missing me by a fraction of an inch. I could feel the bullet whiz past my head as I spun about, reaching for another knife, this on having been rested in a holster on the lower portion of my left leg, and threw it, the knife spiraling like a football in midair and forcing it's way into his mouth. there was a bit of momentum behind it, seeing he was kicked back a bit, the knife going through the back of his skull and attaching itself into the wall...It was actually kind of cool.

"Nice work," Crimson said, having lowered her shirt. "It almost makes me want to fuck you."

"Really?" I asked, running forward with her as we rounded the corner from which those guys came.

"No, not really. I know you from real life. Enough to know that you'd have to do something pretty damn awesome to impress me."

Before I could really contemplate that, we were in the main hall, where I had first come into the place. Before, it was place of gathering; a place where fellow heroes could sit down on a bench and just chat it up, or simply pass through to either get out of the underground complex or travel down one of the many adjourning hallways towards training facilities, bunk rooms, cafeteria or other miscellaneous rooms.

Now, however, such a tranquil sounding little lobby could not bee seen. All around, the bodies of dead 'heroes' and military soldiers were strewn about, mangled and amputated in a number of ways. Fires spewed out of holes in the wall on off the floors, smoke making the air thick and difficult to breath in. The few left alive were still fighting the good fight, or the one where they just kill under orders.

Crimson wasted no time as she lunged forward, using her well trained acrobatic skills to roll and dodge falling debris and bullet fire, making quick work of three guys. The first two were killed by pistol fire, the third she took out with a knife to the temple.

I rushed forward after her, joining a group of three other heroes, all of which had barricaded themselves behind a pile of rubble. I smacked my back against the wall, looking to the first guy I found myself sitting next to; Mimic.

"Where the hell have you been?" He shouted at me, looking over the covering and firing his assault rifle, the bullets sounding as though they landed in a soft squishy body of a once living marine looking guy.

"Got held up back at Doc's office!" I shouted back, pulling out my combat shotgun and taking out a guy who was trying to flank us. "He's dead!"

"You don't think I already know that?" He grabbed a grenade from the bandolier on his chest, pulling the pin out with his teeth and tossing it over the barricade. It exploded, and a bloody, amputated arm with marine clothing still latched on to it flew and landed five feet from my foot. "Why the hell do you think these assholes are still coming in?"

"Get Down!" The guy next to Mimic (A new recruit hero, Juggernaut) shouted, all of us ducking down as an RPG rocket whizzed over our heads, exploding on the wall behind us. We got back up and continued the fight, taking out guy after guy.

"They just keep coming!" I shouted, taking out another two guys with Desert Eagle fire.

"That's their idea!" By this point, Crimson had joined us, and she was fighting alongside us as more and more marines rushed in to take us on.

"You guys have to get out of here!" Mimic shouted, taking out another three guys with a heavy machine gun dropped by the now dead Juggernaut. "There's an old, unmentioned escape tunnel in Doc's office!"

"We can't leave you here alone!" Crimson shouted, ducking behind cover after a bullet whizzed past her hair.

"Whatever reason he had for choosing you, Ben, Kevin chose you. He didn't choose some other half witted, wimpy little piece of shit; there was reason behind his decision. Now don't let that damned decision go to waste and let me buy you guys some time to get the hell out of here!"

"What are you going to do?" I shouted as we began to run, looking back to watch Mimic wave us on. I never actually heard what he said, but from the way his lips moved, all I could think of him saying was "Something Heroic."

He dropped the heavy machine gun, and I watched as he pulled every pin on every grenade his bandolier, a total of seven. He screamed at the top of his lungs, rushed forward, and as we rounded the corner leading to Doc's office, I heard a loud explosion come from the Lobby. Self Sacrifice...another great hero trait.

Crimson and I made it to the office and found the escape entrance soon after that, leaving HQ behind us forever. The facility was lost, but the fight wasn't over yet. We had other places to go, others hideouts to use, but as far as this battle was concerned, the enemy had won the night. Dawn was approaching. I felt homeless...and determined.


	4. Chapter Four: The Demand

I had never been so pissed off in my life...Well, there was the time that David took the last bite out of my chili dog at a baseball game when we were seven, which distracted me just long enough for him to catch the game winning homerun, but this is different. This is SO fucking different.

To recap a bit for you: 1) I lost one of my best friends a while back, who I also found out was a super hero. 2) He chose me to be his successor, introducing me to HQ and Doc, as well as a lot of other heroes. 3) I've trained long and hard to get to where I am, spending over a month on fighting techniques I had never heard of, as well as weapons. 4) That same haven I just mentioned, HQ, was over run by the still unnamed villain who killed Kevin, my friend. I escaped with Crimson and was currently driving down a highway with her in her green Ford sedan...Nothing left to do but run.

"I can't believe they did that to Doc," she stated, wiping a tear from her eye as she got off at an exit ramp.

"Be thankful we got out of there with our lives," I stated, barely paying attention to the conversation at hand as I simply stared out the window.

"What do we do now?"

"We head for Sub-Base Alpha," I stated, looking towards her. "It's what Doc told us to do in case of a situation like this. There are bound to be other heroes who go there as well."

"But what if we're the only ones left? What the fuck are we supposed to do then?"

I didn't say anything...and to be honest, I really didn't know WHAT to say. We had seen Doc's mangled and twisted body, killed I don't know how many soldiers, and were now on the run from a homicidal maniac who was out for blood and not giving a shit who it might affect or who it would kill. Do you think that make cards to make feel better about this kind of situation at Hallmark?

We stopped in front of a large warehouse some fifteen minutes later, having listened to the radio the entire time, not speaking. As we got out of the car, a light rain greeted out shoulders and heads, following us until we got to the front entryway. Crimson went first, knocking on the door, just like Doc had shown us so many times.

No response. She knocked again...

Still no response. I walked around to the side, seeing if I could find any signs of life. Nothing.

"Who the hell is it?"

Crimson nearly jumped as the intercom on the side of the door belted out the words, making me run back to join her.

"It's me, Killswitch," Crimson stated with the most confident sounding voice I had heard all night. "Just open the God damn door already."

"First, what is password?" His thick Russian accent made me want to laugh.

"Allegory. You satisfied?"

The door swung open after the sound of a few latches being unlatched, and both Crimson and I stepped inside. Once away from the door, the auto shut mechanism activated, closing the door and sealing it once more. We were in a small room, where there was nothing but the door behind us and one in front.

"State name," came Killswitch's voice again.

"Crimson."

"Benjamin..."

"I mean superhero name," he grunted at me through the intercom.

"He doesn't have one," Crimson stated before I could, sounding a bit pissed off. "He didn't get a chance to make it past the sixty day mark..."

"He slow or something?"

"I would have made it if it wasn't for HQ being raided!" I screamed, aggravated more than ever. The intercom was silent for a moment.

"Proceed."

The door in front of us opened, and we were greeted by a large mane in a trench coat and glasses. Think of a large white version of Morpheus from the Matrix, and your close. Add a lot of hair, bad hygiene and a cigar clutched between his teeth, and you have Killswitch.

"Welcome to SBA," he stated, leading us in. Crimson seemed to have a pissed off look on her face whenever he looked at her...I'd have to ask her why later. "Tell me what happened exactly."

"HQ got raided by some new villain that killed Combustion!" Crimson stated bluntly. "How more clear could it be?"

"Look, Crimson we have our personal differences, but set that aside for now so we can focus on-"

"You listen to me, pal!" She began, gritting her teeth and pointing an accusing finger at him. "If it wasn't for you, I would still have a father. I was there when you let him die, and I don't plan to forgive you anytime soon for what you did. You are a lowlife piece of shit, you damn dirty Russian, and I hope to God that the same fate happens to you. I think you'd look pretty damn good with seventeen knives shoved through your body five feet off the ground and stuck to a wall!"

And thus, the secret origin of Crimson is revealed. Turns out her father was one of the first few heroes to go out after Kick-Ass, and he met his fate...well, need it be explained again? But apparently, the three of them were on a mission together, and Crimson watched as Killswitch did nothing to stop the attacker until after the attack had been made.

"I had a knife in my leg!" He shouted, slamming his rather large fist on the table. "I was barely able to make it out of there before the damn place blew apart!"

"You only made it out because I had to carry you out, you ungrateful-"

"ENOUGH!" I shouted, making them both and a few other heroes who had shown up look at me. All attention was focused on me, so I took advantage of the situation. What can I say? I always liked Improv...

"We don't need to fight each other, especially not now! What we need is to think of what we're going to do about our current problem. Okay?"

They both looked at each other with scowls before nodding towards me.

"What do you have in mind?" Killswitch stated, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Oh, I got something..."

To tell you the truth...I don't have jack shit. But hey, I like Improv...right?

Some time had passed; three days to be exact. The raid on HQ was all over the news, though the reporters all claimed it to be part of some underground drug ring raided by the military. Meanwhile, we were planning our plan that I had, literally, thought up as it went along. Not quite sure how I came across the idea, but it seemed to be a good enough one for the fifteen of us left to follow.

Simply put, we'd continue being heroes. HQ maybe compromised, but we had this base, and who knows how many others that we could run to if we needed to! Everyone was willing and eager to get out and help people again, only now we had our own training regimens, our own personal reasons to do what we did. But we had one thing in common:

We had to avenge Doc and the rest of those lost at HQ.

We had broken off into five separate groups of three. I had three prepare weaponry in the armory; three were making sure we had food and essentials to get us by; another three were busy training to make sure they stayed in shape. Of course, we had at least three on guard duty, but every few hours rotations would set in, and people who were on guard would go and get some sleep to try and keep themselves alert and ready. I was currently in hour two of my guard shift alongside Crimson and a new comer name Ricochet.

The rain continued to pour down on our heads as the three of us continued to watch our respective areas. I had the back part of the building, where all you could see was a giant wall filled with graffiti and a large empty and broken parking lot. Nothing special or even remotely interesting.

Thank God I had my iTouch. I think I would have gone crazy if I didn't. I pulled the thing out of my pocket, and realized I hadn't even looked at it all day...I was expecting a thousand message of worry from mom and dad, maybe some concern from David and Trisha. Nothing but a blank screen. I had, of course, forgotten to recharge the thing!

I smacked the back of my head on the wall behind me, looking off towards the wall of graffiti. Simple scribblings if you ask me. All I could make out was gang signs and swear words, the occasional penis

among the clutter of 'art.' I'm not one to take notice to graffiti, but right now I didn't have much else to do.

"Hey, Ben."

Scratch that. Crimson walked around the corner, holding two large cups of coffee. Looks like the current food crew went out to get us guard guys something to make the time go a bit faster. She handed me one and I gladly accepted it, pulling off my mask to take a sip of the hot drink, which turned out to actually be Hot Chocolate.

"Some day, huh?" I said after taking in a breath of air.

"That's a bit of an understatement, buddy."

We laughed a bit before getting back into a mini conversation, mostly remembering some of the things Doc had taught us and things like that. Slowly, as our conversation dragged on, the rain began to stop. We both looked up at the skies above us, watching as a rainbow slowly began to scrawl across the sky.

"I've never actually seen one of those before," Crimson stated, looking at the rainbow with a look of pure wonderment.

"Really?"

"Yeah...I've lived in the largest part of the city all my life, not the suburbs like you. I've been close to seeing them when I was younger on road trips and such, but they never showed...it's beautiful."

"Yeah...it is."

She looked at me with a simple tear falling down the right side of her cheek. This was a girl I had watched beat down thirteen random guys in a fight with only her fists. The girl I had seen beat the official sniper record of distance by over thirteen miles...using a crossbow! And now here he was, crying at the sight of a rainbow. She was...confusing, but something else.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, wiping away the tear and giving me one of those goofy reassuring smiles. It was then that I noticed her smile looked so...familiar...

I moved closer to her, and she did nothing. I placed my hand on her masked face, looking deep into her dark blue eyes...and I pulled off her mask, the one that covered her eyes...

"Trisha?"

"Hi Ben..."

My mind went into shut down at that point. Trisha, the girl I had literally wanted to marry for God knows how long, was sitting right next to me, being one of the most badass girls I knew of.

"But...how? I know your Dad, He's-"

"On a business conference, right? Cover-up. How does a business conference last over a year, Ben?"

"But...but..."

"I need you to do something, Ben," she stated, moving closer to me.

"What's that?"

"Wake up."

"What?"

I jolted awake, the rain around me pouring harder than it had before. I must have dozed off on guard duty. I stood up slowly, stretching my back as I looked around. Nothing had changed. I yawned as I looked around the corner at Crimson, and got the idea in my head that in no way could she be Crimson. She was too...powerful...

I sighed as I returned to my post for the last half hour I had, before going in and getting my scheduled sleep break. It was a good sleep break, and thankfully I had no crazy dreams like the one I had just had. But when I woke up, things would never be the same.

I walked out of the sleeping quarters to see everyone standing there, waiting around by the TV we had managed to set up and get access to the news. I pushed past everyone and looked at the TV, listening to Shelly Storm giving the Breaking News Report.

"...as nearly a hundred people are presumed dead. For those of you just joining us, Times Square is blocked off by a massive barricade of military and civilian vehicles, set up by the villain with no name, otherwise being called Villain X. His reasoning will be revealed to us as to why he is down in the middle of Times Square momentarily. We now go live to Sasha Pembroke, on scene."

The camera cut to a scene of a mid thirties Hispanic woman wearing a really cheap suit. She had long black hair the blew in the wind, some of it getting in the way of her face.

"Thank you, Shelly. As you can see behind me, a large number of masked villains, many of which are easily identifiable, have barricaded themselves within the confines of Times Square, holding with them several hundred hostages. In the center, on top of the large pile of broken down vehicles and building, is Villain X, who is about give out his demands. Let's listen, and pray."

The camera zoomed in towards Villain X (Which was actually a pretty catchy bad guy name...), where he and two other villains, Cyclone and Bruiser, were standing on top of the large pile of wreckage. In Villain X's hand was a megaphone, which he put up to his mouth.

"Greetings to my fellow New Yorkers, and the rest of the viewing world. Today is a day that will surely go down as one of infamy for America, and the world itself. For today, my fellow human beings, is the day that Evil shall prevail.

"As you can see, all around me are several hundred civilians, each of which have been rounded up into clusters and are held at gun point by my private army of former soldiers and volunteer militia men. Each of which also has been ordered to fire upon anyone attempting to flee, rescue the civilians, or even enter or exit the barricade.

"Many of you out there are probably wondering what I want. It's nothing major, and something that can be done easily and with the least amount of death possible. Recently, on the news, you all heard about an 'underground drug ring' that was taken out by a private militia? That was actually a base for super heroes, many of them you all know and love.

"The death count in that raid was over one hundred and fifty. That's one hundred and fifty people who gave up their lives day in and day out to try and protect you, when they couldn't even protect themselves. So I ask you...are they really the ones you want protecting you?

"I have the power, the money, and the resources to protect from virtually any threat thrown our way. Trust in me, and your future will look bright.

"Or...you can choose the alternative... That being said, your alternative is this. Currently placed in strategic points all around Manhattan and New York city itself are twenty thermonuclear bombs, each of which will go off in exactly 24 hours. You have until then to bring me the remaining heroes that are scavenging about and give me your word that you want my help, or these bombs will go off. And, the best part is, this will only be the beginning...of the end.

"The choice is yours New York. Give me the heroes and surrender, or crumble into dust like Hiroshima before you. You have 24 Hours, and the demands have been issued,. I have no more reason to speak with you. Good day, New York. It may very well be your last."

He stepped down from his podium, the camera panning back. The crowd behind the police barricade before the barricade they had set up was in a mass riot, throwing what they could get their hands on and looking ready for blood. Police were running around getting to their cars and driving off with the sirens blaring, undoubtly to either find the bombs or us.

I simply looked at the TV with a look of fear, determination, and anger. Fear for my life being lost; Determination to do the right thing; and Anger for not stopping this sooner. Everyone around me had similar expressions, full knowing that we had to do something...and fast. My original plan would have to be scrapped (what little of one I even had).

This called for drastic measures... so drastic, they'll have to wait until the next chapter!


	5. Chapter Five: Plan of Attack

"There is no way we can take him on!"

I turned around to see Crimson standing right behind me, her eyes fixed on the TV screen like everyone else. We all looked at her with disbelief.

"What are you saying, Crimson?" I asked, walking slowly towards her. "Are you saying that this can't be done?"

"I'm saying that it's suicide, Ben!" She stated, bitterly stating my name as if it were a plague. "You think you have all the answers but you don't! I've seen you in training! You're about as threatening as a juice box! Even WITH the straw!"

"And you're not that great of a tactical planner," Killswitch stated, looking over some plans we had already had. "These don't even state anything related to this kind of level of influence and power."

"We'll make this work," I stated, sounding as firm and forceful as I could possibly muster. "I have a new plan, and believe me when I say it'll sound like a suicide mission unlike any other. I may not be the best fighter, or even the best planner, but I can tell you this: My plan WILL work!"

Crimson walked forward, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Save yourself the humiliation…Just give it in…" She turned, a tear slowly crawling down her left cheek. She took a few steps away and turned back, looking at me with wet eyes. "You want to do something about it? You can forget adding me to the plan. I'm done."

What she did next was something I never expected. She took a few more steps forward and pulled off her mask…then walked out.

We were all shocked by what had just happened. To be honest, she was one of the best people we had here. To me she was the best. My mind was in a spin, like I was on a Tilt-A-Whirl that was set to go at seventy times its normal speed.

The others were still there, standing and looking toward me. One of them even asked what the plan was, and my heart skipped a beat. They were so determined, they still believed in me, even when Crimson hadn't…

I smiled as they all looked at me with confidence. I looked to Ghost and Arrow, two of the 'experiment' heroes in find ways of making new technologies. They were crucial.

I pulled everyone into a huddle and explained the plan. They all smiled, and some of their eyes lit up. They knew it was a good plan, and so did I.

"You ever get that feeling like you're being watched?" Villain X stated to one of the soldiers at his disposal, who didn't laugh. Villain X laughed, in a kind of ironic way. He walked away from the soldier, leaving him to guard the prisoners that he had been holding hostage; a small family of five. The mother was unconscious, the father protecting his three daughters.

"You're a monster for supporting him!" The father spat at the soldier, his three daughters crying in his arms.

"I don't like it any more than you do. But I have my orders. Now shut the hell up!"

Villain X was thirty yards away by this point, in front of a large tent that had been placed in the exact center of Times Square…give or take fifty feet. He entered, the soldiers stationed outside saluting as he entered.

Inside was a long table with eight chairs, four on each side. One more chair was at the end, where Villain X sat. At each of the eight chairs was a different villain, each of which was publically known. They were Cyclone, Bruiser, Monstrosity, Lord Tyranny, Psycho, Metal Head, Brainiac and Madame Hornet.

"Greetings Villains of America," Villain X stated as he entered, seating himself down at the chair at the end of the long table. "Feeling wicked today, I hope."

"You are a fool, X," Brainiac stated, slamming his fist down on the table. His massive head was pulsating, the instruments on his chest indicated massive brain activity. Lower Body and most of his upper was machine, making him one of the first fully functional Cyborgs. His cranium was overly large, making him look like his Brain was three times its normal size, when actually in was about five times. Radiation can do that to you…

"And why do you say that, Brainiac?" X stated calmly, barely even blinking.

"You are willing to kill yourself along with these people?"

"I assume you mean the detonation of the Nuclear Warheads that are scattered around the city? Not likely, seeing as there aren't any Warheads. I thought someone as smart as you might have figured that out."

"Then what will happen?" Monstrosity asked, his massive body making it difficult for him to sit in his chair. He had the muscles of a body builder inside of a body builder, and looked like the Hulk, only cross bred with a Wolf. He was actually a volunteer for a cross breed program that went horribly right. He was half man, half wolf, and full of pure rage. He had killed the scientists responsible for his mutation, and has been terrorizing the Midwest for the past seven months.

"Well, Big Bad Wolf, the heroes will surrender, and this city will be the first to become a part of our Empire."

"You speak as if you have authority over them already," Lord Tyranny stated proudly, standing to face Villain X. "These Heroes could be coming up with a plan to stop you as we speak!" The Lord was dressed entirely in royal garb, only dark blue and black with spikes around his shoulders and on his sword. His primary attacking skill involved hypnotism, and making others do the evil for him.

"And they would be foolish to do so." He stood up, walking behind his chair and looking out of the tent. He walked back in, smiling wickedly. The second one of them tries anything, three thousand people die."

"And then what?" Metal Head cried in his rocker voice. He was, supposedly, the embodiment of all the greatest rock stars throughout history. His outfit looked like a cross between KISS and My Chemical Romance, making him look like Gene Simmons, only gothic. His weapon was sound waves, emitted from speakers all over his body and played from his six string guitar. "You have back-up plan or something?"

"I was among these heroes for months without them knowing of my original intent," Villain X stated openly, his eyes closing in memory. "They have a code to honor: The Heroes Code. Basically, their main concern is the safety of those they want to protect. If three thousand people die because of them, they will surrender…They are too scared to do much else."

"And if this backfires?" Madame Hornet asked, a wicked and sexy smile on her face. She was a beekeeper who was so obsessed with Bees, she tried to become one. The result was the slutty dressed Madame Hornet, Yellow and Black stripped outfit with a gun that launched 'stingers' or large pin shaped projectiles filled with poison.

"It won't. They will either surrender on their own, or by force."

"And I thought I was mad!" Psycho shouted, laughing manically in his chair, trying to escape the straight jacket he was always found in. He was an escaped inmate from an Asylum, using his 'illness' as a way of breaking others psyche. He uses fears to make others do his bidding, and then drives them mad to join him in the end.

Cyclone and Bruiser didn't say a word; they were already too loyal to Villain X to say anything against him. Cyclone wore mostly blue jean clothing, with turbine like structures on his wrists and ankles. They allowed him to fly and to 'control' the forces of the wind. Bruiser wore mostly chains, his massive muscles ready to break them. His hands were fitted with brass knuckles, and the helmet on his head was similar to that of Juggernaut of Marvel comics.

"I can assure you all that my plan will work. Nothing can stop us now."

As he finished, a Soldier came running into the ten with a concerned look on his face. "SIR!" He shouted, looking to Villain X. "A hero has come to turn himself in!"

Villain X smiled and turned to the table of villains. "The Surrender, my friends, has begun."

I don't like guns that much. I'm fine when I'm holding it and firing it at a target or deer or something, but when you have thirty or so M16s pointed at you from fully decked out soldiers, you feel your bowels move on their own and have that faint smell of crap in the air…

Five minutes…that was all I needed.

Hands behind my head, I followed the soldiers towards the middle, three of them behind me with their rifles literally jabbing me in the back. I'm guessing they were only 'following orders.'

We got to the middle and I was forced to my knees. Not in the gentle way where they thrust you down by your shoulders. I mean in the hard way where they tie your hands behind your back and hit the back of your legs and head with the butts of their rifles.

I winced at the pain and looked up, seeing Villain X standing in front of me, his crotch level with my face.

"Well now…" He began, walking around me. "Who do we have here? I don't think I've seen you around here before. You must be new to the 'hero business.' In case you didn't know, what you just did was both brave and stupid. I hope you realize this."

I said nothing. Big mistake. Another hit of a rifle butt, this time connecting with the left side of my face.

"Being tight lipped will get you nowhere," X stated, kneeling down to face me. "Look at me."

I did. He punched me with brass knuckles. I don't know if you've ever had this happen to you, but it hurts. Some of the guards had left their spots to come and watch, which made me both sick and happy at the same time. Sick because it meant that this many people enjoyed this sort of thing, but happy because my plan was working.

"You're the first to turn yourself in, so I think I'll cut you some slack. I'll even do the whole cliché thing where I give you the choice to join me. Only this time, there really is only one option that DOESN'T end with me smearing you across the pavement in front of thousands of people."

"You're a monster!" I stated, feeling a bit heroic as I stated the same line said by hundreds of heroes before me. "I'll never join you!"

"Well," He began, standing up. "Can't say I never tried! Any last requests?"

'I still need two minutes,' I thought to myself as he stood over me, laughing to himself.

"Yeah," I began, sounding so confident I almost scared myself. "You want to kill me? Do it with your fucking hands, you lowlife piece of donkey shit."

He laughed at me, kneeling to look into my eyes once more. "Confident little fuck, aren't you? Shame we couldn't face each other in actual combat. I might have enjoyed knocking your balls out through your mouth."

He punched me in the stomach…hard. I coughed up blood, and could only smile and laugh. Some more of the soldiers had left their positions and were watching. X still didn't seem to notice. Now only the guards at the perimeter remained.

"You call that a punch?" I cried out with overconfidence again, making a few of the soldiers actually chuckle a bit. "My dead grandmother can punch better than that from six feet under!"

"You little fuck!" He kicked me, bringing the end of his steel toed boots into contact with my chin. I actually cried out in pain a bit, but thanks to the training Doc had given me, I could suppress pain. I did hear something crack, though.

"I thought you were going to use your hands, you fucking retard!" I shouted, looking at him and spitting out a bit of blood. "Last I checked, only bitches and drunks use their feet!"

"That's it!" He grabbed me by the front of my costume and pulled me up, throwing me into the arms of Monstrosity, who held me up with his massive arms. X walked over and repeatedly punched me in the face, chest, balls, legs and arms for about thirty seconds before moving away, letting me breath a bit. I just hung there, in Monstrosity's grip, smiling madly.

"What the fuck are you so happy about, you little Cuntbag?"

"Everything fell into place too easily."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Look behind you."

The look on his face must have been priceless. When he turned around to see my team of heroes standing behind him, on top of a pile of stunned and knocked out soldiers, I can only imagine that is face was full of shock.

Remember how I mentioned Ghost and Arrow were experiments? Well, they were endowed with chemical compounds to give them temporary powers. They could use them at anytime, but had to continuously dose themselves with the chemical every 24 hours. Ghost could turned invisible, and Arrow could move at supersonic speeds; A perfect combination for getting past a few guards and rescuing a few thousand civilians in a matter of minutes.

He stammered back a bit, shocked by the fact that his little plan had failed. All around, unconscious or near-unconscious guards groaned with pain and grief, the perimeter guards holding off the oncoming crowd of thousands of New Yorkers, all who had blunts instruments, looking for blood.

He turned around to see me, still in Monstrosity's furry arms, laughing. That was probably not the best idea at this point, but I couldn't help it.

"What the fuck is so funny, you little shithole?" he shouted as his fist connected with my stomach. I coughed up a bit more blood, but still I laughed.

"You still think you can win. Evil NEVER wins! This is pure proof! Also, your little plan? Stale. My friend Kevin and I thought up the same exact plan when we wanted to make a comic at the age of 6! You should know him. After all, YOU KILLED HIM!"

I had hoped that this would have made him get down on his knees and beg for mercy. I was even hoping for him to start crying. But what happened made my gut turn. He laughed. Not a simple, wicked laugh you would expect from a sick bastard like him. More of a chuckle…an all too familiar chuckle…

"You still haven't figured it out yet? You still think that this is some sort of game, don't you…Ben."

My heart skipped about six beats when he said my name.

"How…"

"How do I know your name? Well, it's really quite simple. That costume you're wearing gave it away, for one. As I recall, those were your favorite colors…when we were 6."

"No…"

He smiled and pulled off his mask. In front of thousands of people. Right in front of me, as if back from the dead, was Kevin.

"Hello old friend. Miss me?"


	6. Chapter Six: When Titans Clash

"KEVIN?" I shouted, exasperated. Some of the other heroes noticed him, and they all seemed to waver a bit in their stance too. Even Killswitch, who I was surprised to even see twitch a bit, was shocked by this so badly that he indeed did twitch…

"Surprised to see me? Don't be. I've been setting the stage for this moment since I faked my death."

"You did what?"

"Oh. Sorry. Is your feeble mind to stupid to figure that out, Ben? How the fuck else would I be here, standing right in front of you, very much alive?"

He kicked me in the face, hard. His steel toed boots made my face feel like putty as I fell to the ground, coughing up even more of my own blood. A few of the heroes around me tried to reach me. One of them, I still don't know who, was shot. The others backed away.

He kneeled down beside me, smiling wickedly.

"It wasn't all that hard, really. Hire some poor sap who thought he was just going to be getting a couple thousand bucks to be beat up. People in this stupid city will do most anything for money. It was all too easy."

"But why?" I managed at last to say…well, more like gurgle, but still. "You were such a beloved hero. Everyone loved you."

"Everyone that doesn't matter to me, Ben." He face turned more serious as he stood up, walking towards the other heroes. "Sure, I had a few thousand adoring fans, but I wasn't happy. Not really. Crime is something you know all too well that I like. I always played the robber when we were kids. I've stolen most of the video games I have, and a bunch of the ones I got you, actually."

"So…you just wanted to be an ass! Why bring me into this?"

"That, my 'friend,' is a simple question. One that deserves a Simple answer, I think."

He walked over towards me, and I flinched, expecting him to hit me again. Instead, he reached into a pocket on his chest and pulled out a small piece of paper. He chuckled as he looked at it.

"Shame. She always found you more flattering."

He dropped the photo next to my face, and my heart skipped a bit. It was Trisha's senior picture.

"You…You wanted me in this because of Trisha?"

"Cliché, I know. Villain wanting the girl of his dreams, so he takes out the guy who has her. Only in this one, I've had her…so very many times."

"You WHAT?"

He smiled – I really was beginning to hate that smile – and snapped his fingers. Psycho and Metal Head nodded, heading into the tent. I managed to sit myself up to watch them both walk out…

…With Trisha in their arms.

"TRISHA!" I shouted, feeling my body pump full of adrenaline, hatred, and a newly revived spirit to kill Kevin.

"I'm so sorry, Ben…"

"Ah, Trisha." Kevin stated, walking over to her. She started to cry; she knew something was up. "Didn't we have such fun together, you and I? All that passion?" He turned to me again, and just laughed. "More passion then you had with that whelp."

"Trisha, what is going on?"

"My GOD! You are such a fucking idiot!" Kevin laughed in a shocked sort of way, but then walked over to me. He propped me up on my knees, facing Trisha. "Care to say it to his face, Trisha?"

She choked between tears, barely able to keep her eyes open. She did look at me though, a weak, beaten look across her slightly bruised face. "I'm sorry…"

"For what?"

She cried louder now, not able to say whatever it was. Kevin simply rolled his eyes, kicked me down, and walked over to Trisha.

"I been fucking her, you dolt. For the past seven months!"

My heart died. It didn't simple skip a beat or two; it simply died. I died for half a second, only to come back to Earth. I had to look at Trisha and Kevin. Kevin, a thieving, maniacal douche bag of a person. And Trisha…the girl I loved. The only girl I had ever loved…Now I knew the truth.

I didn't say anything. I didn't even flinch. I fought the tears that were trying to break their way out, and leaned back up onto my knees, and then stood. I looked at Kevin, a fire burning in my eyes like never before. He seemed to notice, seeing as his face went from a giggling villain to the serious look of Kevin I knew all too well.

"What are you going to do about it?" He asked, moving away from Trisha.

I said nothing.

"Well?"

Still silent.

He laughed. "You know, this silent treatment thing is getting really fucking annoying!"

Little did he know, that's what I wanted. I had a plan, and I knew it would work. I just had to have the right variables. Variable One: Piss him the fuck off. So I stood there, saying nothing.

He walked towards me, stopping about two feet away. "What are you going to do about it, huh?"

I stood there, doing nothing. I felt so much adrenaline pumping through my veins, it was kind of hard to stand still. All I wanted to do was rip his testicles off and make him eat them, but that's who I am.

Then, he punched me. Right in the gut. For, like, the seventieth time. But still I stood there, simply leaning over a bit from the force. There was so much adrenaline and hatred in my system, I barely felt a thing. What I did next, I'm surprised I could do.

They say that when in a moment of almost certain death, a human will get so revved up with adrenaline that he would have the strength of ten men. I had about twenty, as well as a pack of angry midgets, coursing through my veins.

I grabbed the arm that had punched me, gripped with all my might and swung him. He flew into the air, over the other heroes, and onto a pile of rubble. He wasn't dead, because I heard his groan of pain.

Everyone looked at me like I was some sort of mutant. But I wasn't done yet. Literally a second after everyone saw him smack down, Monstrosity and Bruiser rushed forward, both wanting to rip my heart out, one of which I figured might want to eat it.

I let them come. They couldn't stop me. Bruiser reached me first, and I let him have it. Time itself seemed to slow down as I grabbed his outstretched arm, pulled it in, elbowed him in the gut, kneed his face, grabbed his leg and smashed him into Monstrosity, the both of them flying into a nearby building, a large pile of rubble falling onto of them. They would both live, but be hospitalized for quite a while.

By this point, the soldiers were frozen with fear. The other heroes took their chance. They knocked out most of them, leaving the rest of them who had survived their onslaught to run in fear.

I barely even noticed as I was dealing with Lord Tyranny and Madame Hornet; a match made in evil royalty heaven I must say. They both used their specific skills to try and take me out, but to no avail. Tyranny's mind tricks didn't work on my, but I managed to get to them to work against Hornet, who fired her 'stinger' gun into Lord Tyranny's leg, causing him to convulse and fall over. Madame Hornet was easy to take out; three punches to the face and a knee to the gut and she was out.

Metal Head rushed forward, instantly reminding me of Eddie Riggs from Brutal Legend when he pulled out his guitar. I didn't hesitate; I had seen that thing in action, and it was never good. I grabbed the guitar, ripped it from his hands, kicked him around so his back faced me, and I shoved the neck of the guitar into the main speaker, causing a loud noise and Metal Head to be electrocuted. Needless to say he fell over on the ground, crying. Kind of funny, in a sadistic sort of way.

Cyclone rushed forward, trying to knock me off my feet. He did at first, but then Killswitch came to my side, nodding as we both rushed forward. He grabbed my arms and swung me straight at him, my size 10 shoes kicking him in the face and bringing him down. I landed with my feet at either side of his head, and couldn't help but flip back and land on his chest. I head and felt at least four of his ribs crack, and I left him there.

That also left me with Big Brain Boy and Insane Clown Posse. Brainiac was right in front of me, and all I did was throw a large chuck of sharp glass at his big head. It went through, with a rather creepy sounding squishing noise. Psycho I wasn't able to find. Little bugger had run off. Can't blame him.

I walked over to Kevin, who was just standing up from the rubble pile I had thrown him into. He grunted at the sight of me, but couldn't do much else as I slammed my foot into his chest, sending him back into the pile. I left my foot there, pressing down out of rage.

Despite severe damage to his left arm and ribs, he laughed. "What are you going to do Ben? Kill me? That's not very heroic of you!"

"What makes you think I would stoop to your level? I crippled your little army of villains, know there are no nuclear bombs, and am the only thing standing between you and the entire city of New York pressing down on you with knives, guns and baseball bats. I could walk away and let you die at the hands of citizens you threatened to kill, or I could see you rot in jail for the rest of your pathetic worthless life."

"But you wouldn't do that, now would you?"

I didn't reply. Instead, I took my foot off his chest and looked to Killswitch, who was currently helping to hold back the crowd of enraged citizens with guns, knives and baseball bats. Let it be known that I keep my facts straight. Killswitch nodded, and looked to the crowd. He stepped aside, and I watched as at least thirty people rushed forward, two of which were police officers, and grabbed him up from out of the rubble and threw him into the back of a police car. The crowd cheered for me as they all demanded my superhero name.

Some shouted Beast. Others wanted the name Warlord. But then the unexpected happened. From out of the crowd came Crimson, fully dressed in super hero garb, and stood next to me. She lead me to the rubble pile that was the largest, so that everyone could see me. With a firm smile and a look out to the crowd, she shouted the two words that would echo in my head for years to come.

"THE LIBERATOR!"

Prologue

Well, there you have it. You might not have gotten to see what happened to me at that little bit you read at the beginning, but I'll explain that in just a bit.

It's been six months since that fateful day. I'm currently helping to restore HQ, only now its public, with Killswitch and Crimson helping me run it. We've gotten over three hundred new heroes to train in the past two months alone, one of which was Dave.

Kevin went to trial and is serving seventeen consecutive life sentences. I'd give you the charges, but then you'd be here for a while. The trail was actually forty-five minutes, forty-three of which was going down the rap sheet.

I never forgave Trisha. She moved to Spain with her Dad a month after the event. We haven't spoken at all.

The villains unfortunate enough to have crossed my path that day are all in jail, each in their own specifically made cells. Psycho still is at large.

Now, with that little information out of the way, allow me to explain 'the intro.' It wasn't just a good set piece to put at the beginning of a story to get the reader hooked. It wasn't some fake thing put there to try and mislead you into thinking something like that would actually have happened. It was a look into the future…well, my future that is.

That's right, faithful reader. This bandwagon hasn't some to a halt just yet. There's more to be told, and more to see. So stay tuned, fellow comic fan, for:

KICK-ASS: THE TRIALS OF THE LIBERATOR!


End file.
